An Interview With The Vet Who Almost Killed Houston's World-Famous Dog

Texas A&M vet Katherine Snyder saved the life of Stump -- Houston's most famous dog -- about four years ago. The first time she saw the dog, he was close to death, "lethargic and depressed" and had already spent a week in a Houston clinic.

"We all talked about it, if this is something we should continue or if we should go ahead and put him to sleep," Snyder tells Hair Balls. "We wanted to give him another day, and if he would've been worse, we probably would've euthanized him."

Stump got better the next day, and after almost two-weeks of 24 hour care and a "several thousand" dollar vet bill, the infection in Stump's heart went away.

"I thought he'd be a normal dog again, but Stump was seven when he came to us with that problem," Snyder says. "I didn't think he'd be showing again because he was older when all of this happened. All they ever cared about was getting their dog back. It was never, 'Can he show again?'"

So, when Snyder was watching the Westminster dog show on Tuesday, she was happy to see Stump's handler, Scott Sommer, on television.

"I saw that he had a Sussex spaniel, and I thought there was no way that could be Stump, because he's just too old for this business anymore," Snyder says. "Then the Westminster announcer said his name, he said Stump."

Stump, of course, was the oldest dog ever to win the Best in Show at the Garden.